Student’s initiative turns Khammam Government School plastic-free

A government school in Khammam district has gone completely plastic-free, thanks to the sustained efforts of Duggidevara Sri Raghunandan, a student from Mallaram village. The school, already a recipient of multiple Swachh Vidyalaya Awards, stands as a model for other institutions aiming to eliminate plastic use.

Khammam: A government school in the district has become plastic-free, thanks to the efforts of a student, who recognised the dangers posed to the environment due to the use of plastic.

A resident of Mallaram village in Tallada mandal in Khammam, Duggidevara Sri Raghunandan, who is now studying BBA in a college in Bengaluru, adopted the local Mandal Parishad Primary School in 2016 when he was in the sixth standard, with support from his parents.

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Since then he has been providing assistance to the school in the provision of basic facilities and maintaining cleanliness, greenery and water conservation. He recently provided steel, aluminium and glass items as alternatives to the use of plastic items in the school.

Currently, 51 students are in the school with steel water bottles for drinking water, steel plates for midday meals.

He also provided steel dustbins for collecting wet and dry waste for each classroom, steel soap boxes for washing hands, steel trays for holding school files, aluminum buckets and mugs in the toilets, besides glass bottles to store laboratory equipment making the school totally plastic-free.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Raghunandan said that instead of just creating awareness against plastic use and the threat it posed to the environment he wanted to do something practically. Hence he decided to make Mallaram MPPS plastic-free.

He feels that with his gesture the students would be able to understand the ill-effects of plastic use on nature from childhood. He thanked his parents Duggidevara Ajay Kumar and Vijayalakshmi for their support in his endeavour.

Mandal Education Officer Nemmakanti Damodar Prasad noted that the efforts of Raghunandan to make Mallaram MPPS plastic-free are commendable. The school stands as a guide for many other schools in eliminating plastic.

In 2016-2017, Mallaram MPPS secured Swachh Vidyalaya Award at national level from the Central government besides Swachh Vidyalaya Award at State and district level. It also secured Swachh Vidyalaya Award at State and district level in 2017-2018 and at district level in 2025-2026.